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Israel's top security body has voted to recognize the recognition of 19 new settlements in the disputed West Bank, representing a continued push for settlement expansion.

Hardline Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a settler who advocated for the measure alongside Defense Chief Israel Katz, declared that the approval was aimed at blocking the formation of a Palestinian state.

Under international law, Jewish communities in the disputed territories are deemed unlawful.

The announcement has elicited censure from Saudi Arabia. The United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has commented that Israel's "relentless" settlement expansion heightens frictions, curtails Palestinian use of land, and threatens the prospects of a sovereign Palestine.

Increased Tensions and Political Repercussions

Violence in the occupied West Bank has surged since the hostilities in the Gaza Strip erupted in October 2023, adding to concerns that the growth of communities could solidify the Israeli presence and damage the prospects for a two-state solution.

The concept of two states envisions the creation of a State of Palestine in the Palestinian territories, with East Jerusalem as its seat of government, broadly along the borders that were in place before the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Upon assuming leadership in late 2022, the current Israeli government has greatly accelerated the authorization of new settlements and started the process of legalization for unauthorised settler outposts, designating them as "suburbs" of existing communities.

Ongoing Growth

The most recent approval brings the total number of settlements recognized over the last three years to sixty-nine, per the figures from the Finance Minister.

These approvals are announced only a few days after the UN reported that settlement expansion had attained its most intense pace since the year 2017.

The most recent group of authorizations features the re-establishment of a pair of settlements — Ganim and Kadim — which were removed nearly two decades ago.

Previously, the Israeli government gave the nod to twenty-two new communities in the occupied West Bank - labeled as the biggest expansion in many years.

In a related development, the Israeli government gave the go-ahead for blueprints last summer to erect in excess of 3,000 housing units in the so-called E1 corridor between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement, a plan that had been on hold for many years amid intense foreign objection.

At that time, Smotrich remarked it would "put to rest the idea of a Palestinian state."

Population Facts and International Response

An estimated 700,000 Israeli settlers dwell in about 160 communities in the occupied territories, as per data from the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now. This is land that Palestinians aspire to have for a future sovereign nation.

Settlement expansion has provoked Arab nations who have repeatedly contended it erodes hopes for a peaceful two-state outcome.

It has furthermore fueled concerns about the eventual incorporation of the occupied West Bank.

Former US President Donald Trump had previously cautioned Israel about this step, telling TIME magazine that Israel would lose its backing from the United States if it happened.

Recently, the UK - along with other nations such as Australia and Canada - formally recognized a State of Palestine, a major although largely symbolic adjustment in government policy.

Israel opposed the move, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that a Palestinian state "is off the table."